


Ghost of Christmas Future, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s04e11 Holy Night, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-15
Updated: 2004-01-15
Packaged: 2019-05-15 15:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14792795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Holy Nightpost-ep.





	Ghost of Christmas Future, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**The Ghost of Christmas Future**

**by:** Dee 

**Category/Pairing:** Josh/Donna  
**Rating: MATURE**  
**Notes:** Step by step. Inch by inch she cautiously crawls back from the ledge. What's this? Do I see life being breathed back into my favorite couple? Could it be so? a Holy Night post-ep.

You know the drill: lots of spoilers.   


"So I was telling Harold that...Donna? Donna?" 

"Huh?" She lifted her head from the candle she'd been staring at for the last... oh my God how long had she been staring at the candle? 

"You weren't listening again. Is there something matter?" 

"No," she answered quickly. Too quickly. When she answered that quickly she was always lying. But Jack didn't know that. Josh knew that, but Jack didn't. Josh knew lots of things about her that Jack didn't know. Bastard. 

He was the reason she'd been staring at the candle. The reason she'd taken Leo up on his offer to leave. She'd run as fast as she could to ... 

Meet Jack. Of course that's why she'd been in a hurry to leave. No other reason. No other reason why she hadn't poked her head in and at least had said goodbye and Merry Christmas to Josh. 

A rush. That's all. A rush to catch the helicopter. Although she really wasn't all that crazy about them. She'd ridden in Marine One just enough times to know that. 

In fact she'd almost considered turning back. She hadn't. Because for whatever reason it seemed too important that she keep going. If she turned back... she didn't want to think about what that might mean. 

"Donna!" 

His raised voice startled her and again she knew she'd been as far away from Jack as a person sitting across from him at a candlelit table in a lovely romantic inn could get. 

"I'm sorry. It's just that I sort of left Josh. He was in the middle of this thing and..." 

"You mean you left the office." 

"That's what I said." 

"You said you left Josh." 

"Josh. Office. Same difference." 

"Not really," Jack said cryptically. He picked up his wine glass and leaned back in his chair. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"It means that I'm beginning to realize something. Something I probably should have spotted from the beginning, but you're cute." 

Self-consciously she smiled. "You think I'm cute?" 

"I do. But I should have known better. I asked him about you two, but it occurs to me I never asked you about you two." 

"Two. There is no two," Donna said hysterically. "We're not a two. Haven't been a two. Ever." 

What the hell did he mean by it's not what it looks like. Because if she was going to go down that road she might think it looked like he was sabotaging her holiday with Jack. But why would he do that? 

She'd never sabotaged anything with Amy. Well, maybe one time. The baseball game thing... 

"There's a two." 

Donna shook her head desperately trying to focus on Jack. "He's my boss." 

"And you're his assistant. I know. Do you guys realize how many times you have to explain that to people?" 

Donna huffed, slightly annoyed that he was fighting her on this. "It's because we're friends. Friendly. We have a way about us... and people always want to leap to conclusions." 

"Because of the `way'?" 

"It's a weird way." 

"One might say it's a thing." 

"It is not a thing. It's a way. And a way is no way shape or form a thing. A thing brings with it all sorts of romantic undertones and Josh and I don't have that." 

"You don't?" 

"No." The word tightened her throat a little and she thought about why she pushed him so hard on what he said. 

"Then how come you're sitting here feeling guilty because you didn't tell him goodbye?" 

Donna slumped her shoulders in defeat. There was no way this was going to sound good. "The holidays can be difficult for him. I really don't want to go into detail." 

"Please don't. Look, Donna. I get it." 

No, he didn't. And she feared that once again she was about to be tossed into the single pit of despair. This was all Josh's fault. Why did he even bother asking Jack to ask her out if he was going to turn around and ruin the first chance at a decent relationship she'd had in a really long time? Jerk. 

"... so I'm going to leave." 

Wait. Leave? "You're leaving." 

"I think it's for the best. At this point we can walk away. A few nice dates, no hard feelings." 

"But I took a helicopter to get here. And I'm really not that crazy about heights." 

"Can you honestly say that if we finish dinner, go back to the room, crack open a bottle of champagne, light a fire..." 

"Oooh, a fire." 

"...that you won't be thinking about Josh the whole time?" 

"Who?" 

Jack smiled. "Nice try. The snow stopped, the roads are being plowed and I have a truck. You stay and keep the room. Call it a Christmas present from one friend to another." 

She considered stopping him, possibly pushing him up against the wall of the inn and kissing him, proving to him that she liked him and she wanted to be here. 

Because she did like him. And she did want to be here. 

But she couldn't honestly say that she wouldn't think about Josh. She knew that because she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since she arrived. It wasn't fair to Jack. And it certainly wasn't the atmosphere in which to begin an affair. 

Josh. Ratface. Same difference there too. 

"See you Donna." He stopped and kissed her forehead. "Finish the desert. And I'll see you back at the office... or should I say the Josh." 

Donna watched him go. "Should I say the dork..." she mumbled under her breath. It was the uniform. She'd always been a sucker for a man in uniform. Hadn't she fallen for the termite guy when she'd been eight? 

Basically it had all gone down hill from there. 

She went back to staring at the candle and thought about what was going to happen on December 26th. 

"Hey Josh." 

Josh had been walking and reading a memo when he heard his name. He lifted his head and found Jack walking in the opposite direction. 

"Hey," he said as he passed him, ignoring the tightening in his gut. Then, as if to prove to himself that he had no problem with the guy, he turned around. "So how was the inn? Any room for you and Mary?" 

Jack stopped also and turned around, a quizzical expression on his face. "Donna didn't tell you?" 

"Tell me what?" 

Jack smiled and just shook his head. "You know you guys really ought to talk more often." 

With that he continued on his way. 

"We talk all the time," Josh muttered under this breath. He climbed the steps and turned toward his office. Donna was at her desk typing something on the computer. And he thought that all was well in the world. 

He almost blew it a few days ago. He didn't know why he let the whole Jack thing get to him. She was allowed to date. 

He had no problem with her dating. Mostly no problem. 

He dated. Hadn't he just gotten out of a relationship? Donna never had any problem with him and Amy. And why should she? 

She was his assistant. 

"Are you dating your assistant?" 

He remembered that was the first thing Amy had asked. He remembered denying it too. Because it was true. He wasn't dating Donna. At the time she was involved with another short Republican. But why had she asked? Why did Jack? 

"What?" 

Josh broke free from his musings. "What?" 

"You were staring at me." 

"I was?" 

"Yes. Do you need something?" 

"No," he said. He was about to turn into his office, but stopped. Against his will he turned back to her cubicle. "So you never really said, how was Christmas?" 

"Fine." She continued to type, but she didn't realize that he could see her monitor. Her fingers were off a position so unless she'd learned some new foreign language, she was basically turning the memo into garbage. 

"Okay." 

She stopped and he could see she was debating internally. He knew that because she could never stop her head from tilting when she answered herself. She swiveled in her chair and looked up at him, her lower lip between her teeth. 

"I'm sorry I took off so quickly, without saying goodbye or ... anything." 

"Leo said you had to move fast." 

She nodded. "Still, I don't work for Leo. I work for you." 

"But I work for Leo so technically it was okay." 

"Yeah," she nodded. "Technically. What did you do?" 

"Leo and I handled the phones for a while and then..." 

"No, I meant for Christmas." 

"Okay, you remember I'm Jewish. I don't really have to do anything." 

"But you like to. Did you make eggnog?" 

"No. I don't do it as good as you do." 

"Oh." 

"It was fine. I got caught up on some reading, watched a Christmas Carol." 

"I like that movie." 

"The ghost of Christmas of Future always freaks me out." 

Donna smiled. It would, she thought. "That's just a warning of things to come. The point is a person can change his destiny whenever he wants. It's never too late." 

"You think?" 

"Worried about being buried in an unmarked grave, Josh?" 

No. Just worried about being alone. "So you think I should change things?" 

For a moment they both held their breath. Their eyes locked on one another and a message that neither one was willing to verbalize passed between them. 

"I think... I've got to type this memo you wanted." 

"Okay." He smiled though because he could see that she just realized what she'd been typing and heard her huff. "For now. 

He said it just loud enough for her to hear. 


End file.
